Vehicle-reach coupling



(No Model.)

E. s. CVUSHMAN.

VEHICLE REACH COUPLING.

No. 887,152. Patented July 31, 1888.

umiiiimm lmiiiliiml UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ELMER S. CUSHMAN, OF DELHI MILLS, MICHIGAN.

VEHlCLE -REACH COUPLING.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 387,152, dated July 31, 1888.

Application filed May 4, 1888. Serial No. 272,815.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ELMER S. GUsHMAN, of Delhi Mills, in the county of WVashtenaw and State of Michigan, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Vehicle- Reach Couplers; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters of ref erenee marked thereon, which form part of this specification, in which- Figure 1 is a side view showing my coup lers applied to the overlapping reaches of a vehicle. Fig. 2 is a cross-section on line a: 00, Fig. 1, enlarged. Fig. 3 is a cross'sectional view of Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is a plan view of a coupler, as adapted for an ordinary singlereach wagon.

This invention relates to improvements in vehicles; and its object is to provide a coupling device for wagon'reaches, whereby the reaches can be adjusted to any position and securely fastened together in a quick, simple, and secure manner; and to these ends the invention consists in the novel construction and combination of parts hereinafter described, illustrated in the drawings, and particularly specified in the claims hereto appended.

Referring to the drawings by letters, A designates the running-gear of a vehicle, the axles of which are connected by reaches B B. Ordinarily vehicle-reaches have been connected by bolts and nuts, the bolts passing through corresponding openings in the reaches, where there were two used, for se curing them together, or through a metal band attached to the gear-braces where only only one reach was used. By this arrangement the gear could only be adjusted according to the number and position of the bolt-openings in the reaches, and the time and trouble involved in loosening the bolts and adjusting the reaches have been the source of much inconvenience. I overcome these objections and secure the reaches at any point of adjustment by the following means:

0 C designate the couplers, each consisting (No model.)

of a rectangular metal frame of sufficient height to embrace freely the reaches B B upon which they are slipped, as shown.

The base or lower bar, D, of the frame is widened, as shown, to prevent undue rocking or tilting of the frame on the reaches. E is a set-screw playing vertically through a corresponding screw-thre'aded socket in the upper end of frame 0.

F is a loose plate moving vertically in frame 0, and having lugs ff on its ends, engaging bevel-guides G G on theintier faces of the side pieces of the frames. The said guides preferably extend only part of the length of the frame, so that plate F cannot fall to the bot tom of the frame, even when removed from the reaches, thus enabling the coupler to be more readily slipped on the reaches. The end of screw E bears in a recess, g, in the upper surface of the plate. When the reaches overlap, as shown in Fig. 1, I prefer employing two couplers, arranged as shown, which are slipped on the reaches, screws uppermost. The gear is first adjusted to the desired. length, and then screw E is tightened, bearing down plate F, and clamping the reaches firmly together, asis obvious.

When but a single reach is employed, as shown in Fig. 3, but one frame 0 is used, and that is secured to the ends of the gear-braces, between which the reach passes, as usual. The screw E,when turned home, binds the reach to the frame. The shape of the frame may have to be varied from that shown in the drawings in order to accommodate it to varying sizes and form of reaches; but the essential features and effect would be unaltered.

From the foregoing it is apparent that I require no perforations in the reaches, thatI can lock or couple them at any point of their adjustment, that the coupler can be readily eugaged or disengaged, and that the plate F, while increasing the clamping-surface of the coupler prevents mutilation of the reaches by the screws.

Having described my invention, I claiml. The combination of the reach with the coupler 0, having adjustable plate F and setscrew E, all constructed and arranged sub- In testimony that Iclaim the foregoing as my 10 stantially as and in the mannerand for the purown I affix my signature in presence of two pose described. witnesses.

2. The combination of the reaches with the 7 5 couplers O therefor, having abase, D, grooved ELMER S. OUSHMAN.

side bars, a sliding plate, F, mounted between 7 said bars, and the adjusting set-screw E, all Witnesses: constructed and arranged substantially in the FRANK J osLYN, manner and for the purpose described. ALLEN BAGLEY. 

